Morgan Rinckey: Guns can be good if used properly

In Matthew Evans’ column from last week entitled “Leave law enforcing to those sworn to protect,” he stated that “the need to carry a gun is unjustified and puts more people at risk of harm.” He went on to say people shouldn’t have guns because people aren’t trained.

But people don’t just use guns to kill with their concealed weapon as the column makes it seem. Guns provide a sense of protection to more than those who carry them, and they’re a way of life for some.

Three Thanksgivings ago, my dad and older sister were the only ones home when someone walked up our back porch and tried to break in. He was the grandson of a neighbor who had been charged with stealing from his grandmother’s house a few years before, and had broken in again earlier that day. Our dogs started to bark and whine like they needed to be let out, so my sister walked toward the door.

She saw a guy standing on the back porch, so she yelled to our dad to call 911 and started to chase after the would-be burglar who had already started to run away. She chased him barefoot through the woods behind the house because she didn’t have time to put on her shoes. Eventually, she lost him and ran back to the house to wait 10 minutes for the police to get there.

Incidents like these make me glad that my dad has guns and knows how to use them. I live in a rural part of Bedford, so it takes the police a long time to get dispatched across the district to where I live. It makes me feel safe knowing that my dad and his gun can protect me if something like that ever happens again.

But people don’t just use guns for protection; my family is really into hunting. I’ve always been exposed to it - guns and hunting, the taxidermy deer mounts in my uncle’s house, the sound of gunfire as people shoot at clay pigeons.

The first time I went on a hunting trip I was 9 years old. My dad and I sat at the base of a maple tree for what felt like hours. Occasionally he would blow into a turkey call to lure in turkeys and to keep me from falling asleep. Every time I would ask him something he would shush me. But an hour later he got really excited pointed in a direction and lifted up his gun. I got really excited because I was tired of sitting on the hard ground, and not being able to move because turkeys are devil creatures that have good eyes.

He held up the gun, got the turkey in his scope and squeezed the trigger. The turkey fell before the reverberating noise of the gun stopped. And one of the only times I have seen my dad run, was to tag the turkey. When we got home we dressed the turkey, and kept it in the freezer until we cooked it, and it was nice to spend time with my dad.

Guns can be harmful when someone doesn’t know how to use them. That is why there are training classes and steps people have to take when they purchase firearms. When someone buys a long gun it’s implied that the owner will either use it to hunt or to shoot on a shooting range. That way the owner will be trained to use it in a hunter’s safety class or be taught by instructors on a range. If someone wants to buy a handgun, they have to go through a handgun safety class that teaches them how to use it.

I gave examples of the experiences I’ve had with guns, but there are other people who have had completely different experiences. There have been so many studies done on gun use, that what it really comes down to is the person who is behind the gun. In my hunter’s safety class, my teacher made everyone say “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” If someone is using their gun to target shoot or hunt - great. If they are using their guns to harm others - that is when people see guns as bad, when really it’s the person behind the gun who is bad.

Don’t just assume guns are bad to own because you hear stories of people getting shot. You should listen to stories of how people have been able to defend themselves with the use of guns, or watch some of the wilderness shows of survival from hunting. Guns have become a part of our culture, and people should be able to purchase them.

Morgan Rinckey is a first-year double majoring in English and communication.